Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich told congregants in a Winter Park, Fla., church over the weekend that if elected president, he would advocate for the ban of stem cell research from human embryos, reports The
Washington Post.
Gingrich charged that such research leads to “the use of science to desensitize society over the killing of babies,” which was received by a thunderous standing ovation from the Baptist congregation.
Gingrich went on to question whether fertility clinics should be able to house leftover embryos from in vitro fertilization in the first place.
“If you have in vitro fertilization you are creating life. And therefore we should look seriously at what should the rules be for clinics that do that because they’re creating life,” Gingrich told the Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church congregation Sunday after attending services there.
Gingrich added that if elected, he would create an ethics commission to study in vitro fertilization.
“I believe life begins at conception, and the question I was raising was what happens to embryos in fertility clinics, and I would favor a commission to look seriously at the ethics of how we manage fertility clinics,” he said during a news conference outside the church.
As it stands now, federal regulations only require clinics to report on their success rates.
Gingrich has taken a stance against abortion arguing that life begins at conception.
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